CAIRO, March 18 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian top court issued a final ruling on Sunday confirming the acquittal of a former culture minister of illicit gains and profiteering charges, state-run MENA news agency reported.

Egypt's Court of Cassation rejected the prosecution's appeal against a 2013 court order acquitting former culture minister Farouk Hosni of the said charges, confirming his innocence.

The ex-minister has been accused of profiteering from his post and making about 10 million Egyptian pounds (more than half a million U.S. dollars) of illicit gains, which Hosni denied and said his wealth was made via investments and sales of his paintings.

Being an abstract painter, Hosni served as culture minister for nearly 23 years under former President Hosni Mubarak, until he was sacked in 2011 during the upheaval that toppled Mubarak's regime.

Several Mubarak-era figures have recently been either acquitted or released pending retrials over similar charges.

Earlier in January, the same top court overturned a seven-year jail term against former interior minister Habib al-Adly over charges of corruption and illicit gains, ordering his retrial.